Mobility survey: in Belgium, the car remains queen – Economic Policy
The Belgians not only have a brick in their stomachs but they are also jealous of their salary car. This is one of the major lessons to be learned from a Trends-Tendances survey on our behavior in commuting.
1. Belgians are more homebodies than you think
They are looking for a job close to their home. Some 60% of those questioned live less than 20 kilometers from their place of work. This includes home-based jobs: 6% of the working population does not even have to travel to work. And for 33% of respondents, cycling up to 10 kilometers to get to work is perfectly possible. Finally, one out of five active Belgians living in the survey and living 10 or 20 kilometers from their place of work believes that an electric bicycle or a speed pedelec could be an alternative to the car.
2. We remain a people of commuters
Telework remains an inaccessible privilege for half of Belgian workers. This is particularly true for young people: among respondents under 35, 58.5% say they have never teleworked, while this figure barely exceeds 47% among those over 35.
3. The car remains queen
Around 47% of Belgians generally use their own car to get to work; 25% use a company car; 2% opt for carpooling. And barely 16% of Belgians use public transport for their journeys. In line with their concerns about the climate, 19% of Belgians do however cycle to work. For 9% of them, it is an electric bike. It should be noted that people aged under 35 are more likely to use bicycles, while company cars seem particularly popular among people over 55. An obvious corollary: public transport is also the least popular in this last group. In addition, company cars are not evenly distributed by gender. They are significantly more popular among men (31.7%) than among women (17.4%).
4. Belgians love their car salary
Only 26% of Belgians oppose the company car system. One in five people have no opinion on this, and 53.1% are in favor. However, 33.5% believe that not everyone needs a company car and that a limit on fuel card use can be reduced. Another salient result: 54.3% of the oldest workers see company cars as a cause of traffic jams. As for workers under 35, the majority would prefer a more determined mobility budget and thought that the indirect subsidies granted to company cars could rather be integrated into public transport. Despite everything, four out of five working Belgians felt that company cars are an important element in salary negotiations.
5. Traffic jams again and again
Half of working Belgians are not bothered by traffic jams when they travel. Either it is because they do not go to work by car (19.6%) or that there are precisely no traffic jams on the road during their home-work journey (30.1%). Conversely, a quarter of motorists believe that they spend more than half of the time spent on their journey in traffic jams. And for 12% of them, the morning traffic jam is even a daily routine. Surprisingly, those who drive a company car (72%) are more likely to be in traffic than those who use their own vehicle (59%) or carpool (60%). When driving at rush hour, driving at the boss’s expense obviously seems more bearable than when using your own car…
6. little enthusiasm for road pricing
Road pricing is not popular in Belgium: 67.6% of respondents are against kilometer charging systems. Among the inactive and retired, the opposition is even slightly higher than in the group of active respondents. This opposition is more evident among those who carpool (93%) or use their own car (76%) but less marked among those who use a company car (69%) or get to work by other means ( 58%). A logical result when we know that the high tax burden seems to be the motivation most frequently cited by opponents of this road pricing. Only a quarter of Belgians are ready to pay themselves if it were to be offered, while 46% think that the employer should bear the costs.
Furthermore, among the initiatives taken by companies to improve mobility, the possibility offered of working from home or at staggered hours and encouraging the use of bicycles to get to work are particularly popular. It should be noted that in Belgium, one company in five does not work on mobility problems…
7. We want better public transport
Belgians mainly believe in public transport and teleworking as solutions to improve mobility. Younger workers are more likely than their elders to believe that employers should take the initiative on mobility, while older generations continue to increasingly increase investment in public transport. But only one out of ten Belgians considers road pricing as a means of improving this mobility, regardless of age group.
They are looking for a job close to their home. Some 60% of those questioned live less than 20 kilometers from their place of work. This includes home-based jobs: 6% of the working population does not even have to travel to work. And for 33% of respondents, cycling up to 10 kilometers to get to work is perfectly possible. Finally, one out of five active Belgians living 10 or 20 kilometers from their place of work believes that an electric bicycle or a speed pedelec could be an alternative to the car. Telework remains an inaccessible privilege for half of Belgian workers. This is particularly true for young people: among respondents under 35, 58.5% say they have never teleworked, while this figure barely exceeds 47% among those over 35. Around 47% of Belgians generally use their own car to get to work; 25% use a company car; 2% opt for carpooling. And barely 16% of Belgians use public transport for their journeys. In line with their concerns about the climate, 19% of Belgians do however cycle to work. For 9% of them, it is an electric bike. It should be noted that people aged under 35 are more likely to use bicycles, while company cars seem particularly popular among people over 55. An obvious corollary: public transport is also the least popular in this last group. In addition, company cars are not evenly distributed by gender. They are significantly more popular among men (31.7%) than among women (17.4%). Only 26% of Belgians oppose the company car system. One in five people have no opinion on this, and 53.1% are in favor. However, 33.5% believe that not everyone needs a company car and that a limit on fuel card use can be reduced. Another salient result: 54.3% of the oldest workers see company cars as a cause of traffic jams. As for workers under 35, the majority would prefer a more determined mobility budget and thought that the indirect subsidies granted to company cars could rather be integrated into public transport. Despite everything, four out of five working Belgians felt that company cars are an important element in salary negotiations. Half of working Belgians are not bothered by traffic jams when they travel. Either it is because they do not go to work by car (19.6%) or that there are precisely no traffic jams on the road during their home-work journey (30.1%). Conversely, a quarter of motorists believe that they spend more than half of the time spent on their journey in traffic jams. And for 12% of them, the morning traffic jam is even a daily routine. Surprisingly, those who drive a company car (72%) are more likely to be in traffic than those who use their own vehicle (59%) or carpool (60%). When you drive at rush hour, driving at the boss’s expense clearly seems more bearable than when you use your own car… Road pricing is not popular in Belgium: 67.6% of respondents are against charging systems charge per kilometer. Among the inactive and retired, the opposition is even slightly higher than in the group of active respondents. This opposition is more evident among those who carpool (93%) or use their own car (76%) but less marked among those who use a company car (69%) or get to work by other means ( 58%). A logical result when we know that the high tax burden seems to be the motivation most frequently cited by opponents of this road pricing. Only a quarter of Belgians are ready to pay themselves if it were to be offered, while 46% think that the employer should bear the costs. Furthermore, among the initiatives taken by companies to improve mobility, the possibility offered of working from home or at staggered hours and encouraging the use of bicycles to get to work are particularly popular. It should be noted that in Belgium, one in five companies does not work on mobility issues… Belgians mainly believe in public transport and teleworking as solutions to improve mobility. Younger workers are more likely than their elders to believe that employers should take the initiative on mobility, while older generations continue to increasingly increase investment in public transport. But only one out of ten Belgians considers road pricing as a means of improving this mobility, regardless of age group.